Walking Dead Star Compares Season 8 to Die Hard

The Walking Dead season 8 is nearly upon us. Even though fans wanted to see the result of the frustrating season 6 cliffhanger at the beginning of The Walking Dead season 7 last year, the season overall managed to disappoint many. That doesn't seem like it's going to happen this year. Fans can expect a much more action-packed and faster paced run of new episodes. In fact, according to Ross Marquand, who plays Aaron, The Walking Dead season 8 is cut from the same cloth as Die Hard in some ways. Here's what he had to say about it in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly.

"The first four or five episodes are kind of like little mini action films. They're hour long action films, each one of them, and that's just exciting for me being an action nerd because Die Hard is my favorite action movie of all time and there are little moments like that throughout. There are these really sort of beautifully nuanced and realistic action moments. For me, that's what I always like to go for. I like to go for realism interaction, and I think that we've struck a really good balance of the fantastical elements of the show with some really great just old school action sequences that I think are going to blow everyone away. I mean myself included. I was there for it, but seeing it all cut together is a totally different thing."

As far as action goes, be it on TV or in a movie, Die Hard is pretty much as good as it gets. So if The Walking Dead season 8 really can manage to capture anything near that level of excitement and pacing, we're in good shape. Last season was a bit of a slow burn, but Ross Marquand also says that what went on in season 7 was necessary in order to get the show into position for a much more action-heavy season.

"The other thing I would say is that last year was so much about getting to know Negan and his men, which we needed to do. We needed to find out who he was, what motivated all of them and what made them tick, and that was essential for the overall arc of the story. But now that we've done that, now that we've laid that foundation, it just feels more epic this season. It feels much more like these two worlds have been fully fleshed out and now we're getting to see the result of all of the terrible things that happened in season 7. I think that last season was a very meticulous setting up of a number of different domino pieces in a row, and this year, it's not getting flicked over by the person at the top. The domino pieces are getting shot down with a giant cannon, that's how we're starting out the season, and it just keeps going all the way to the end."

This season is going to be adapting, at least loosely, the All Out War storyline from The Walking Dead comics. It's one of the most beloved storylines from the source material and something fans have been waiting a long time to see. If what Ross Marquand has to say in this interview with EW turns out to be true, this could be one of the better seasons of The Walking Dead to come around in a while. The Walking Dead season 8 kicks off on Sunday, October 22 on AMC.

Writer of various things on the internet (mostly about movies) since 2013. Major lover of popcorn flicks. Avid appreciator of James Bond, Marvel and Star Wars. Has a tremendously fat cat named Buster and still buys CDs. I’ve got my reasons.